To feel no optimism whatsoever

[peasoup8]

The vaccine is going to take years to roll out at the current pace. I don’t see the point in celebrating NYE with my other half because 2021 is just going to be more of the same. I know this post is very negative but I’m just feeling like crap right now tbh. I can’t see any end in sight.

My cousin in law is best friends with a scientist

A somewhat spurious connection.

No one would stop me seeing my family
Absolutely no one

@RhubarbTea
Why aren’t you mixing with home edders
My dgcw are
Mixing for all kinds of lessons
Just like school children are

We are, with a few families. But most groups have closed down and because it's winter park meets are harder. Our regular HE group we loved hasn't met since March.

Where have 137000 people been vaccinated @Signaturesoftheworkers?

It’s hard going, I totally agree.

I want to be told for certain that I can go on holiday next summer or attend a concert.
I don’t want to wear a fucking mask any more
I want to hug my friends if they’re upset
I want my kids to be able to go out and have fun and a normal life!
I don’t want to sit in my house every single day since i lost my job in May and can’t find another one.
I want to feel happy because all I feel right now is numb and tired and pissed off.

The government can’t afford for this to drag on any longer than necessary, the country will be in the gutter.

I don’t feel any hope either. There may be a vaccine, but I sure won’t benefit from it. By the time they get round to my age group, it’ll be time to do all the older people again and they will again take priority. In the meantime, our freedom will continue to be gone. I really doubt the vaccine roll out will be anything other than a fiasco, as I just don’t trust the government and apparently the nhs can’t cope with anything.
I haven’t seen my parents and sisters since last Christmas. I am sick of seeing the four walls of my house and the same surrounding area. I am sick of zoom calls. I am sick of not having anything to look forward to or being able to plan anything. This isn’t living, it’s existing.

Also finding things a bit hard tonight. Mostly family not seen my toddler in a year and almost none met new baby. I'm finding it really hard to occupy toddler and doing a lot of breastfeeding on benches in rain just wishing I could take her to a play date or group and just sit inside for a bit even though we love the outdoors. Toddler cries whenever she sees a friend's house because she used to love going inside to play

I just miss people and I'm normally pretty happy in my own company

Actually 137,000 in a week means that it would take 4 years to vaccinate 25million people so I guess they had better speed up!

@Elephant4

Where have 137000 people been vaccinated *@Signaturesoftheworkers*?

In the U.K.

More than 137,000 people in the UK have received the first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in the first week of the largest vaccination programme in British history.

The government has today released provisional figures which show at least 137,897 people received their first dose of the vaccine by the end of Tuesday 15 December. 108,000 people were vaccinated in England.

The figures are provisional and subject to change. Formal statistics will be published every week from next week.

The majority of the vaccines have been administered to the over-80s, care home workers and NHS staff through more than 70 sites across the UK.

GP-led centres started vaccinating patients this week in England and the roll out will expand to care homes soon.

I keep thinking of the expression "it's darkest before the dawn", as that seems very apt right now. We're in the darkest month of the year, with the shortest day approaching soon, before the days start get longer again. We have rising cases of the virus, and there will no doubt be a surge in January due to households mixing at Christmas, but the vaccine is being rolled out and by the end of March they are planning to have 20 million people vaccinated, which should include everyone over 65, along with NHS staff, carers and care home residents. So, by the end of March, with spring weather and a large chunk of the population having immunity through vaccination or through having survived infection by the virus, I feel sure that things will feel very different. The next two months are going to be tough, and time drags when you're having no fun, but the end is in sight.

New Year's Eve is overhyped anyway, IMO. You can choose any day to celebrate a new start, and for my elderly MIL, that point will come after she's received both vaccination jabs, when she can see old friends again.

I was feeling alright till Johnson said next Christmas it will all be fine, given all his other promises of end dates, this complete and total dread came over me. I am not sure I can do another 2 months of this, a whole year is just going to kill me

@Sobeyondthehills To be fair, I'm not sure that there were "promises of end dates", I think people were just overly hopeful that the initial lock down in March and other restrictions would somehow solve the problem, when that was never going to be the case. Measures were taken to prevent the NHS being overwhelmed, they were not presented as a permanent solution. You can get through another 2 months of this, especially with the hope of vaccines coming to the rescue. You're stronger than you realise. I'm trying to accept that the next 2 months will be difficult, but keeping in mind the light at the end of the tunnel, which seems brighter each day.

OP in which case do what you want at your own peril or keep yourself and others safe. Your call.

Op - I hear you, it is so fucking hard day to day.

Try to keep in mind two things - Spring is on its way and things would improve then (even without a vaccine) as they did last summer. As I understand it the warmer weather and people being outside more helps to naturally reduce transmission rates.

The other thing to remember is - they only need to vaccine 20% of the most vulnerable people to save 80% of the lives being lost, once those people are vaccinated there should be no need to lockdown again (as the NHS won’t be overrun with cases in hospitals)
The Tory government want to get the economy back up and running, as they are totally motivated by money, they are going to get that jab into people as fast as they can.

Keep your pecker up

We won't be living with these restrictions until everyone is vaccinated though. It's already been said. I'm 30 and healthy, I don't expect to be offered the vaccine for ages if ever, and children aren't going to be vaccinated at all. Once all the vulnerable have had the vaccine the rest of us will be expected to get on with things normally and manage our own risk.

I felt like this yesterday for the first time in ages. I've managed fine through most of this, I WFH, no DCs, not very close to my family anyway, and not very sociable. It's been pretty easy for us to comply with the rules. We've been impacted financially but are managing. I have felt very lucky this year compared to so many who will be really struggling for so many reasons.

But yesterday, with rates rapidly rising in all my local areas, with another hard lockdown from 28 Dec (Wales), with Brexit looming etc it just felt so hopeless. I'm not desperate to socialise, to go on holiday, to see family or any of those things, I'm quite happy at home. It just feels right now that despite the vaccine, it's going to be so long before this country feels positive again. I genuinely think the early part of next year will be a total shitshow after Christmas mixing and the possibility of a no deal Brexit and it really does scare me a bit. I just want to go to sleep and wake up in the spring when hopefully things will start to improve.

I'm a single parent too and I get it.

What is keeping me holding on, is that in the past I have had an illness that meant I had to have horrible treatment for a year. I remember very clearly feeling like this during it (at the time I didn't have a definite end date or know that I would get better).

It did end. Everything ends.

The vaccinations will speed up once we have oxford approved. They can vaccinate huge amounts in sports halls , school buildings and the like . It's taking longer because of the nature of the current vaccine plus the ages of the people currently being vaccinated (can hardly herd through sports halls).

I'm lonely and utterly fed up too. But this will end.

137,000 who potentially needed a hospital bed if they caught Covid, now don't (accepting that 5% or so may not have immunity). That's a lot of space in hospital already freed up. How is that not a good thing OP? I know 2 people who have had it. By mid January I will be able to visit them for a cup of tea and chat. They've both been isolated for 9 months. Can you imagine what the vaccine means to them and their families? I also know someone who is working really hard at a GP surgery getting people into a hired sports centre to have it. She is putting her children and Christmas preparations on the back burner to get as many patients through as possible.

Same!
For the first time I’ve really had enough. @Mybedislisting that was a lovely post, thank you.
Fil died in June from Corona. Dc started a new school in September, it’s been a bit rocky and they can’t see their old mates. Mil, who is extremely tricky is now bubbled with us, and all that entails.
My old dog is getting worse. I keep telling him I can’t lose him. Yesterday he struggled so much, I told him that if he had to go, he could.
My best friend is a nurse who has worked on a corona ward throughout, I calked her yesterday, she’s got the fucking bastard virus.
I know I have so much to be thankful for, and I am, but fuck me I’ve had enough.

Op - I feel the same. Literally feel so drained. Where I live some of the local GP practices have started administering the vaccination. In my job I work with elderly vulnerable people and I’ve been asking if they will get the vaccination. I’m surprised with the amount of people who said they wouldn’t take it. I try to convince them otherwise... but it feels so futile when some are so adamant they won’t take it. It really infuriates me (although I never show it to my patients) that we are sacrificing so much to help protect these people but at the same time some won’t take the thing which will protect them and ultimately get us out of this mess. Totally fed up!!

You aren't obliged to celebrate NYE anyway OP. I'm more concerned about Brexit so I certainly won't be.

I have asked lots of people if they will get the vaccine. Everyone apart from one elderly woman can't wait. I even have friends overseas who are jealous of our rollout. Friends in one country say their government has bought the Russian and Chinese vaccine and they'd much prefer Pfizer or Oxford.
The elderly neighbour who won't have it can't really articulate why, but seems scared of it.
We know the take up last week was good, so let's concentrate on that.